Tom is a young man. He has a very big dog and he has a very small car, too. He likes playing tennis. Today he plays tennis for two hours at the club and then he wants to go home by car. His dog comes after him, but it does not jump into the same car. It jumps into the next car. "Come here, foolish(愚蠢的) dog!" Tom shouts at it, but the dog still stays in the next car. Tom puts his key into the lock（锁）of the car, but the key does not turn（转动）. Then he looks at the car again. It is not his car! He is in the wrong car! And the dog is in the right car!

B

    Hans Christian Andersen was born in Denmark in 1805. He lived with his parents in a town   called Odense. They were a very poor family and they couldn't afford to send Hans Christian to school.

    As a little boy, Hans Christian enjoyed making up fairy tales（童话）and puppet（木偶）shows.

    When he was only eleven years old, his father died and he had to go out to work to make money to help his mother.

    Three years later, Hans Christian left home and went to the city of Copenhagen to be famous and rich. To begin with he didn't do very well there, but at last he was able to go back to school and then on to university to continue his education.

    He wrote fairy tales and stories and soon became famous. At first he wrote the stories that he had heard when he was a child and then began to make up new tales. During his seventy-one year life, Hans Christian wrote over three hundred stories.

    Many of his stories are still enjoyed by children today. Among his best-known stories are: the Emperor's New Clothes, the Ugly Duckling, the Snow Queen, the Princess and the Pea, and the Little Mermaid.

    Henry is nine years old. It is half a kilometer from his home to school, so he goes to school on foot every day. He usually gets home at five in the afternoon.

    It was Thursday, and he came home one hour late. When he came home, his mother asked him, “Why are you late, Henry?”

    “My math teacher Mr. Smith is very angry (生气的）with me and asks you to go to his office tomorrow.”

    “Why does Mr. Smith ask me to go to his office?” his mother asked. “He asked us a question and no one could answer it, but I could.”

    “What a clever boy! Then what was his question?” his mother asked with a big smile.

    “His question was ‘Who put some ice-cream on my chair and made my trousers dirty? "said Henry.

    An old farmer lived on a farm with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early to read. One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! What good does reading do?"

    The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

    The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out (漏出) before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You"ll have to move a little faster next time," This time the boy ran faster, but again the same took place. It was an impossible task.

    The old man said, "You're just not trying hard enough," So the boy tried a third time and failed. He said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"

    "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

    The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket into a clean one inside and outside.

    "You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. "

    "Mom, I'm bored," said Jason. "There is nothing to do." "You can clean your room," said Mom. "That's not fun." It was only the second week of summer vacation. It was still too chilly to go to the pool, and Jason was tired of watching TV. His friends went on a trip, and even his dog, Riley, was being lazy.

    Mom was getting ready to go downtown to the food kitchen to help out. She volunteered three times a week serving lunch to people that weren't as lucky as Jason. "Why don't you come with me to the food kitchen and help out?" Mom asked. "I don't know anything about working at a food kitchen," said Jason. "You just watch me, and then you will see how to serve the food," said Mom.

    It was time to go, and Jason was excited to try working in the food kitchen. He watched his mom put some chicken on a plate and some mashed potatoes. She then passed the plate to the next lady, and she put some green beans and bread on the plate. "I can do that," thought Jason. One of the volunteers left early, so Jason took his place in the serving line. He was in charge of putting salad on the plates. He served twenty-five people that day. After the kitchen closed, Jason and his mom stayed to clean up. "That was great!" said Jason.

    Jason was so excited and really enjoyed his day at the food kitchen. He couldn't wait to get home and tell his dad about how much fun he had. "Not only did it give me something to do, but I felt so good doing it," Jason told his dad. "Jason, that was nice thing you did today," said Dad. "You helped many people who aren't as lucky as you to have a hot meal," Mom said. "I am so proud of you, Jason! You worked very hard.

    Jason went to bed that night thinking about the food kitchen. "I am going to help out again," he thought. Jason made some new friends, and he didn't even know they lived so close to him in town! The best part was how good Jason felt inside.

    Long long ago, there was a small village in the mountains, and many people lived there. Mike was one of them. He was a middle-aged man. The people in the village always laughed at him. They liked to show visitors how stupid Mike was. They thought this was an amusing thing to do.

    One day, a visitor came to the village. "Watch this!" a villager said and called to Mike." Come and play a game, Mike." he shouted. Mike walked slowly towards him, with a silly smile on his face. "Look, Mike, "the villager said, "I have got something for you." He showed Mike a $1 coin and a much larger 50￠（美分） coin." Which one would you like？" he asked Mike, holding them both out. Mike immediately took the 50￠coin. The villager laughed." See how stupid he is!" he said," He always does that. How stupid he is!" He walked away, leaving Mike with the visitor.

    The visitor felt sorry for Mike." Mike, listen," he said," Although the 50￠ coin is bigger than the 1 coin, the 1 coin is worth much more. Twice as much." "I know that," Mike said," But the very first time I take the $1 coin, they will stop playing the game. "Mike went away and left the visitor in silence.